Johnson won for the eighth time at the track, the most among active drivers and an unprecedented mark for one track in the modern era.

It’s one head-scratching stat, Johnson’s eight wins in the last 18 Martinsville races.

The only thing that makes less sense? Danica Patrick finishing 12th in her first trip to the tough, half-mile track.

Danica the enigma

Patrick’s 12th-place finish was just another in a string of surprises in 2013.

Beyond Daytona, where she was expected to have a fast car, she has performed poorly at tracks where she was expected to be adequate and has performed well when all the signs pointed to her having a long day.

Her strong runs last year at Phoenix and Bristol did not translate into having a fast car and a good run there this year.

Her first-ever trip to Martinsville, where she was expected to struggle, turned into her best non-Daytona finish of her Cup career.

So was she just lucky? It’s hard to think anyone just gets lucky at Martinsville. It’s a technical track and for her to stay on the lead lap over the final 200 laps is a credit to her ability.

But what has been a pattern of not building on a strong performance when she returns to a track is a sign that she still is trying to figure out what she needs to be comfortable in the car.

Sometimes she finds it by the end of the race, like she did at Martinsville. The Stewart-Haas Racing team’s overall struggles haven’t helped as all three teams seem to be searching for answers.

Don’t expect Danica’s up-and-down performance to change much this year as she continues a steep learning curve. She will continue to be one of the most unpredictable drivers in the garage until she has a complete understanding of what she wants and what she needs at each track.

It will be frustrating for her. But it will keep the debate on whether she will ever be a success in NASCAR at the forefront.

Martin no Denny Hamlin?

Mark Martin had to scrimp and scrape for a 10th-place finish at Martinsville.

In a way, it was a remarkable feat considering he started 35th and even was a lap down at one point after his pit crew messed up and dropped the jack before all the lugnuts were attached.

His 10th-place finish was a sign of Martin’s ability at Martinsville. But it showed the reason he hasn’t raced at the track while running a limited schedule. He rarely feels comfortable at Martinsville and it’s no fun when the car doesn’t turn.

His struggles proved that the veteran driver can’t just take what works for other drivers and make it work for him. Even with the injured Denny Hamlin, who has won four times at Martinsville, atop his pit box trying to guide him, the team appeared to be at a loss for what Martin needed.

His Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth were strong all day. They both took the lead with green-flag passes.

Martin didn’t have their speed. And while he finished ahead of Kenseth (who was 14th), it was a day that showed that he never was truly comfortable.

While few can compete with Martin’s grit, it might actually be better for JGR that Brian Vickers will be in the car throughout the rest of Hamlin’s absence.

Vickers drives a Nationwide Series car for the organization, so there are plenty of people who know what Vickers likes in a car. He also probably drives a lot more like Hamlin than Martin.

Martin will have a better chance to win driving the No. 55 Michael Waltrip Racing car that he has driven much of the year. The team knows him and what he wants to feel. It’s his car, his equipment and, quite frankly, his focus.

Vickers hasn’t lost edge

If anyone thought that Vickers had lost any of his edge in not running full time in Cup, they saw Sunday that he is still determined not to get pushed around.

Vickers, whose stance against Tony Stewart’s blocking edict a couple of years ago resulted in Stewart’s car atop a stack of tires at Sonoma, is a driver who isn’t afraid to use his bumper if necessary.

He doesn’t care if the name on the windshield is Stewart or Patrick or Harvick, as he rubbed fenders with Patrick a couple of times Sunday and was spun out by Kevin Harvick afterward.

Vickers, who has run a part-time Cup schedule the last two years, won’t have many more opportunities to get a full-time Cup ride if he doesn’t land one for 2014. This is his last chance. With a Nationwide season going good but not great, he needs to be successful on the Cup side to attract sponsorship.

Don’t expect that to change as he steps into the JGR No. 11 car starting next week at Texas Motor Speedway.

Vickers isn’t here to make friends. He’s here to get the best finish possible. He’s not going to lose any sleep over the fact that a few people might be mad at him over Martinsville. He has a job to do, and if a few people get their feelings hurt along the way, so be it.

Pit stops

From what we’re hearing in the garage, there are no rule changes to the cars expected in light of Denny Hamlin’s injury; the carbon fiber hood is not considered to have contributed to his injury. … Ryan Truex broke his collarbone — FoxSports.com said it was in a motorcycle accident — over Easter weekend and won’t make his Cup debut at Richmond; he might be ready by Dover. AJ Allmendinger, who likely will run at Texas this week in the No. 51 car, will race at Richmond while Regan Smith will be in for upcoming races at Kansas and Talladega. … No penalties are expected for any postrace confrontations or contact at Martinsville, including one between former teammates Ross Chastain and David Starr following the truck race. … Kurt Busch is testing at Richmond on Monday; Richard Petty Motorsports and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing tested there last week. …Sprint Cup teams will get three and a half hours of testing with the new Gen-6 car Thursday at Texas.